My Oceanography course should be fun. I had a pretty good time tonight. I like the teacher's voice, presence, and sense of humor. This class is designed for non science majors, and the textbook was written by a community college professor which means it's less esoteric than the typical textbook. Our first lecture was on the history of ocean exploration, complete with slides of Eratosthenes' maps, Viking longships, and famous navigators.

I was dismayed to discover the seats and lecture hall are uncomfortable. There was a draft blowing on my neck all night that made me shiver, and the desks were designed without much back support. The slick material made me slip and slide no matter how I sat. The hall itself has the doors in the front instead of the back, so every time someone sneaks in or out the class is slightly disrupted. It holds about 40 students but the weird acoustics make it hard for someone in the back to hear the professor unless he really speaks up. After the break I walked to the front and plopped myself down. If I have to put up with Arctic temperatures and no lumbar support at least I'll be able to hear the prof.

I have Human Biology on Tuesdays so I haven't started that yet, but I bought my books for both classes. There were no used copies left, unfortunately, so I had to fork over eighty bucks apiece. I must remember to sell my copies back to the bookstore during finals week. I didn't know I had a deadline on selling back so I missed my opportunity to offload an Algebra book I'll never use again. Rats.

My favorite piece of information gleaned from tonight's class is the Japanese used Captain Cook's maps of Pacific islands drawn in the late 1770's when they planned their invasion of the South Pacific in the 1940's. No finer, more detailed maps existed. That's quite a legacy.

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